Modern Vespa

20 bucks and a six pack of Pacifico later…

i'm confused. i see tires off rims, but how did 20 bucks and some Pacifio achieve this?

whoa! that's like 1994 1/2 Kajiit pricing!

I am a lazy shit bird.

So, rather than get out all my c-clamps and pry bars… I visited the local tire shop. Made friends with Jesus and Jose, worked on my Spanish, drank a cold Mexican with my new friends, AND had the rims removed from 4 tires at 5 dollars each. Been the best 1/2 hour of my week hands down.

New friends and progress on a project. I like it.

No. You're a smart shit bird who knows how to live.

genius - but does it help the et3 get over the line????

I too have made friends with Jesus while drinking cold Mexican brew with Mexican friends... although the other circumstances are slightly different and somewhat hazy... it was still a good time tho.

This is awesome.

Reminds me of when I had a Baja bug and would go by Les Schwab tire center to see what they had in the dumpster that would fit my bug.

BS with the guys and answer questions about the bug. Next thing I know they stashed some great tires aside, mounted and balanced them, great tread, for five dollars a tire. They were all just happy to help a brother out with a cool old bug....

No... not at all. That ship has sailed and sunk.

At least you made some friends!

This is a new one on me. More reason to stick with metal scoots, or at least avoid projector headlamps?

Thinking of you, Chandler.

Only 66F at the time, so that was pure solar power at work.

My essense is strong! Must've had a little of it fall off me while I was in Phoenix on my way to & from ROM.

Hahahahahaha

Visited an automotive paint store for the first time in forever. Picked up a few things to try and make my '00 ZX-II look a bit less crappy.

Found out this shop has three stores; two in LA and inexplicably, one in Tucson. The products weren't as insanely priced as I feared and the instruction I received from the grizzled wizard behind the counter? Priceless.

I successfully repaired a crack in my headset with Aluma-weld, which should actually be called Aluma-braze.
I have a piece of legshield trim for the Motovespa that got dented and ground out at the upper corner from sliding down the road. I carefully worked it out and back to almost perfect but it has some small pits and scrapes still as I don't want to file it too thin. It was originally nickle plated, I believe, and I was wondering if this Aluma-stuff would work as a filler. Can it be plated ?

I asked the plater and he said that brazing was the way to go.

I just delivered the Motovespa 150 S to the blaster this morning.

I love that wagon.

Is there a post for your Motovespa resto? Would love to follow along if there is.

The '68 95's been my daily driver for almost 25 years. Newest vehicle I own and truly sport utility.

I am working on a thread for the 150S. Some interesting differences in the way things were done in Madrid.

Day job and then busy at the shop = NO LIFE

A Sprint V. on the left and the ETS on the right. And there's a T5 waiting in line...

Sprint V. needs a flywheel seal so it's a split and some Greek bodgery. Small half is a 2 port Bajaj...

ETS has been sitting for 5 years, so it's carb cleaning, new fuel line, fresh fuel, fresh oil, gear cables are solid and it also needs clutch plates (that was the reason the owner stopped riding it)...

First one in the ETS. Factory stickers are still intact and look how clean it is. Hoping he won't change his mind till winter or mess with it...

Sprint V. blown up crank bearing and cush drive. That thing was running though. And some Greek bodgeries. Apparently someone apprenticed in Vietnam

Gracious

The ets is so clean…!

So they really didn't use seam sealer everywhere from the factory… always thought it was weird. But kinda makes sense… how much time do you have for a small scooter on the factory line?

Umppphhhh that sprint has seen better days… they kinda know what they were doing with the casing dimple marks… but that's a lot of dimples…

that ETS... *swoon*

the sprint. woof. no thanks.

Finally figured out my ET4 turn signals problem. They only work sometimes. Found an old thread on here saying to check for a bad regulator. Hooked up the multimeter, 14.5, then again - 18v! What's awesome is I tried the signals at 18 and they didn't work, then the voltage dropped back to 14.5 and they came on. Gotcha!!

Finally got the Rally papered up legit.
It's a blessing and a curse… With legit plates on the back, my riding style tends to be a continuous litany of moving violations.

Replaced regulator today and all seems well, time will tell but the battery voltage stays at 14.2-14.3 now.

Today was deferred maintenance day. Little stuff like replacing the folded gasket on the shift box of the sprint.

The GL has something going on which I think is either a failing CDI or a rubbed wire shorting out. Either way, I got to push it half a mile home. And I need to reduce the diameter of the needle a little bit, but at least I was able to determine that before my ride turned into Leg Day.

Meanwhile, the new (correct size) banjo arrived late this afternoon so I will install that sheet than later. And bleed the brakes. Again.

Finally, I installed a new CHT sensor on the Sprint and the runleader is no longer effectively single-use because you can replace the copper ring. Points to them for that.

And I forgot to mention... The last time I rode the GL, it left a puddle of crankcase oil on the ground.

I was thinking I must've cracked the cases again, but it turned out to be the tabbed washer on the input shaft was preventing the clutch cover from seating correctly. Fixing it was a PITA, but no leaks in the short time before the ignition left me stranded.

Hopefully a leaner needle and some heat shrink will be all I need, but if not, a new CDI will probably sort me out.

Picked up some chrome super cowls for $90. They might go on a super secret project I haven't yet acquired…

The chrome is flaking at least 1 layer on the engine side. They are not perfect but the price was right.

They thanked me by drawing blood with a chrome flake.

That guy come up with some good scoot stuff sometimes. As you know I have some Super items around if you need anything else I can check.

A blood sacrifice is how you know a project has accepted you as it's mechanic.

I've had my 2021 GTS on my lift now for over a month, trying to work my way through the maintenance tasks that require my attention. I am having the hardest time trying to find the motivation to go out and work on it, but I'm just not finding it. I also have a page worth of to-do items that I can't start working on until it is done (a lot of them I need the space in the shop).

I want to work on it, I am pumped up when I get done with work to go work on it, but by the time I get to my kid's school, pick him up, and take care of the few things I have to take care of when I get home, and then all motivation goes out the door.

It sounds like you could do a better job prioritizing. Perhaps twice a week you could simply "forget" to pick your kid up from school? You'll have that GTS up and running in no time flat!

Not to mention that forgetting to pick up the kids builds emotional resilience, problem solving skills, and is a great source of exercise.

I know quite a few kids that could benefit from that!

My preferred way of getting scoots done is deferring home maintenance, especially yard work. I just finished a side job so I can blow all the money made on new parts!😛

I was basically raised by wolves and I turned out okay. Like, seriously, I think my parents would be getting visits from Child Protective Services if they parented like that today.

Last night, the horn on the BooBadge wasn't working as I was doing final checks that it's ready for WKRP. I assumed I must have ripped a wire dealing with the new brake line, since they both run up the fork. Ripped out the wire, then remembered that the switch is basically backwards (AC to horn, switch to ground) because it's a modification of the OG balanced AC switch panel.

So I got to re-run the wire to fix that. FML. But at least my horn works again.

Whenever my dad had a beer after mowing the lawn, he would pour a finger's worth in my sippy cup. Younger people are horrified when I tell them that.

Ah the good old days.

My friend's dad used to drive us to the beach with a martini between his knees.
We'd stand up in the back of his Ranchero going thru the canyon.

Seems legit.

Along those same lines, I ran over to the liquor store to get some beer a little while ago on the Sprint. Putting a six pack into the legshield rack, something poked a tiny hole in one of the cans. I realized it when I took off and the vibration shook the can enough to cause it to start spraying all over my legs and dripping onto the scoot.

So I did the only reasonable thing I could do in that situation. I pulled over into the first parking lot, cracked that puppy open, and slammed it.

Like I said: I turned out okay.